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Context

Denis Joseph Ivan Williams was born on 1st February
1923 in Georgetown, British Guiana. His Barbadian mother Isabella
was a much-sought-after seamstress and a keen amateur artist; his
father Joseph was a devout Jehovah's Witness who worked as a purser
on a ship plying its trade along the colony's great rivers. By the
time he was eleven he had become impatient with the slow progress
of his peers and decided he did not wish to attend school, so for
about a year he studied at home. He then returned to secondary
education and by 1941 he had successfully completed the Cambridge
Senior School Certificate.

In early childhood he had decided to be an artist and writer. He
now joined the British Guiana Arts and Crafts Society, …

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11791Denis Williams1Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.